PO Jake Wallin
Officer: Fargo Police Department, Police Officer Jake Wallin
Date: 7/14/2023 Location: Fargo, ND FACTORS (1,2,4,6,7,8,15,19)
Perpetrator(s) Involved: Mohamad Barakat
Criminal Activity History/Involved: None. / Yes, Barakat ambushed the officers.
Mental Illness: Barakat was “interviewed in 2021 after the FBI received an anonymous tip expressing concern about Barakat's mental health.”
Substance Abuse History/Involved: Unknown. / None reported.
Race/Sex/Age: MENA/Male/37
What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At around 2:45 p.m. on July 14, 2023, Fargo Police Department Officers Zach Robinson, Jake Wallin, Andrew Dotas and Tyler Hawes responded to an intersection in Fargo to investigate a motor vehicle accident.
Actions taken by subject toward police: Uninvolved in the accident, Mohamad Barakat ambushed the officers, unleashing a barrage of bullets at them from his .223 caliber rifle.
Reactions by the police: Officer Wallin “hurried to create distance, intuitively” after his fellow Officers Dotas and Hawes were hit, “pulled his gun out and was taking aim at the gunman when he was fatally struck.” With his fellow officers critically injured, PO Robinson returned fire at Barakat and managed to land a lethal shot.
How murdered? Officer Wallin was ambushed and shot by a perpetrator using a semi-automatic high-powered rifle.
What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? The officers were responding to a routine traffic accident and could not have anticipated being ambushed.
Would the officer have been justified in using deadly force before being murdered? Officer Wallin reacted swiftly and courageously but was gunned down right before he was going to use justified deadly force.
Outcome for the cop-killer: Barakat was justifiably shot dead in the gunfight.
Miscellaneous: Considering that “in the car that Barakat drove to the ambush scene, investigators found three long rifles, 1,800 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition, a homemade grenade, a can of gasoline, explosives and other firearms,” “authorities believe Barakat, who moved from Syria to the U.S. in 2012 seeking asylum, planned a mass shooting in Fargo, likely at a downtown street fair attended by thousands the day of the shooting.” To their credit, when the leaders of the local mosque were asked to handle Barakat’s funeral arrangements, they refused.
